How do you keep track of your dog’s medical records? Many of us manage with some combination of a calendar and manila folders jammed with vet records. Finding important information can be frustrating, time-consuming and, in an emergency or when you're away from home, nerve-wracking. Whether your pup has special needs or you just want to keep track of annual checkups and vaccinations, there are a few apps out there that can help. While most keep track of very simple things, such as your dog’s medications and next appointment, a few go a step farther.

For iPhone and iPad users, Dog Medical Agenda stores all of your dog’s medical information (such as microchip information, allergies, last exam, surgeries and medications), including the infrequent visits to the acupuncturist or masseuse. For a new puppy, there’s a vaccinations tab that tracks which shots your dog should be getting at certain stages in his first year of life.

There’s also a tab that hooks up with your veterinarian’s contact information from your iPhone’s address book and stores it for future reference. The best part about Dog Medical Agenda is that you can password protect all of the data. You can then export all of that information into iCal or email it to share with family members or back-up caregivers or dog-sitters.

The only caveat is that each version of the app is priced differently, so you’ll have to pay three times over: $3.99, $4.99, and $6.99 for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac app, respectively. The developers at Jupiter Engineering hope to offer iCloud integration in a future version of the app.

For Android phone and tablet users, Pet Master Pro is the best app for keeping track of your pet’s health information. For $4.99, the app comes with a Daily Log feature that enables you to record information such as your dog’s dietary history, weight and behavior or just keep track of general notes. You can set notification alerts for upcoming appointments.

The app has a nice, clean interface, and also stores typical information, such as allergies, insurance provider and medical conditions. Unfortunately, there are no notifications to help remind you to update the daily logs, which is a shame because there are so many of them.

There’s a free version of Pet Master available, though it’s ad-supported and some of its features are only available as a one-month trial. However—and this goes for both apps—the convenience of having your dog’s vital health information organized in digital format is worth the price of a box of dog biscuits.

Florence Ion is the managing editor of Mac|Life magazine, and has also written for Maximum PC and PC Gamer magazines. When not writing about tech, she goes on high-tech adventures with her German Shepherd, Roxy.